Oh, Deer -- Strongsville Leads Area in Animal-Related Crashes

A newly released report shows Strongsville leads the county in the number of crashes caused by animals.

The 2009 crash report by the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency shows that 77 of the city's 1,112 collisions that year were animal-related.

Next highest was Broadview Heights with 42. North Royalton had 27.

Police Chief Charles Goss said the number actually sounds low.

"I'm surprised we didn't have more than that," Goss said. "They probably didn't count the accidents handled by the Metroparks rangers."

Goss, who estimates 99 percent of the animals involved the the crashes were deer, said the sheer number of miles of roadway in the 26-square-mile city, coupled with its proximity to the Cleveland Metroparks, make car-deer crashes likely.

"It's because of our size, and because the Metroparks runs through our city," he said. "We probably have more wildlife just because of that dynamic."

The number of animal-related crashes represents about 7 percent of total car accidents here. Broadview Heights' percentage is a bit higher at around 10 percent.

In Lake County, City Manager Kenneth Filipiak recently told that Mentor had 245 animal-related crashes between 2007 and 2009 -- the most in the region. The next closest, Strongsville, had 180 over the three-year period.

Mentor officials are discussing ways to control the deer population.